Thursday, 8 March 2007

It's a boss thing

exThose who know me will know that my first job was a hell hole. There are 2 peak period in a year and minor peak here and there which means… the whole freaking year can be quite ‘peak’. I stayed there for more than 5 years and only a job opportunity overseas was able to tempt me away, do you know why?

If there’s one factor that keeps a person to a jog, it’s the boss. Trust me, when you have to slog out all the late nights, and if you have a crazy boss breathing down your neck, you won't last long, unless you’re desperate for the job.

Having worked for quite a number of bosses, let me share some pointers with you. Believe me, you will need this guidance when you switch job.

You seldom hear people call their bosses ‘bastards’, but you will usually hear people call bosses ‘bitches’… or sometimes… ‘crazy bitches’. Yeah… generally (and I mean generally), men bosses are easier to work with compared to the female species, as sexist as this may sound. Those agree say ‘oh yeah!’…. ah… I hear that.

Women bosses are petty and would generally fail to see the bigger picture. They usually carry the scared-to-die genes as compared to men who usually carry the dare-to-die genes. Of course, this would translate to higher risk in working for men. So it’s crucial to have a men boss who won't blame you if anything goes wrong. I had the privilege of having such in my first job.

If the female boss is not married… you’re most certainly in for deep shit. If you’re a guy, maybe… just maybe you may find favour. But if you’re a girl… you’re most certainly in for smelly deep deep deep shit. If the female boss is past 40 and not married… wah… I don’t even wanna begin to describe it. There is a Chinese term called ‘pin tai’. If you don’t understand, ask your friend what it means.If the female boss is married, generally they are ‘normal’. But you must also be careful if she is married to a rich man. There are 2 possibilities here… one of which being she doesn’t really need this job and as such she is quite ‘relax’, which is good. On the other hand, she could be in that job because she is passionate about it.

“Passionate”… this is a very dangerous term, particular if the female boss is married to a rich man. This will usually means money is not that important to her and this is bad… very bad! She will just work, money is secondary… which means you will also be working (a lot) and money will also be secondary. Job satisfaction is orgasmic, so you will be doing assignment after assignment, more jobs, more late nights, stay back… money? It’s all about job satisfaction. Maybe they think your good appraisal letter can buy you a car.

It’s very important that your boss see money as an important element. If your boss thinks you’re highly paid despite you getting puny salary, tough luck, your boss won't be fighting for higher increment or bonus for you. You might hear them say…”how much more do you want? When I was your age, I was getting xxxx and I have to take bus and still can't afford a motorbike la.” They usually don’t understand what is the meaning of inflation and increase in cost of living. Makes you want to do this.

Last but not least, try to avoid a boss that has been in a company for umpteen years. Why? Somehow, when bosses have worked in a particular company for a long period of time, they tend to think they own part of the company. Trust me, this is very bad.

Why? Because if you claim your allowance, they will give you a lecture, saying things like “you’re already highly paid”… they think the company is giving you (and the boss) too much annual leave (trust me on this one, it’s possible)… if you print single page on A4 paper, they will lecture you to print double-page, as though they are paying for those papers… and one classic example where if you die, it’s ok, but business must be able to go on, as mentioned here. There are many more not-so-nice things if the bosses think they own the company, just too much to mention.I am sure there are many factors to determine a good and a bad boss. In my zewtpinion, a good boss is the one who is able to see the big picture, the objective of a particular assignment, and not worry about whether a comma should be a comma and a full stop should be a full stop. A good boss is a boss who can put himself/herself in your position and understand your concern from job satisfaction to monetary orgasm. And finally, a good boss is one who realise that he/she is just like you… an employee.

I agree, female bosses are usually bitches!! (but not me though, hehe)

But I dunno about the scare-to-die gene, I once used to work for this couple who run the company, wife is usually doing all the management - so I was under her lah, one day got called in the office "hinting" that I should leave her husband alone, when we were meeting in his office, she will walk in and out just to check on us...gosh!!! paranoidnyaaa...and they are in their 50s!!!

altho i may not be working for long, i kinda agree that women bosses are harder to work with. my ex-boss was a lady..not the 40+, unmarried kind..she was only 29, single and a pretty one at that. she is one of the nicest and coolest boss anyone can get. we can talk about almost anything under the sun..problem was she couldnt multitask, panic easily.

i love her as a friend but cudn stand being under her. i quit not long after. lolzz..

now, my current boss isnt tht great either. old man..long-winded..everything also must ikut procedure. too serious at times. bah!!

this is your best post yet... working for any unmarried ageing woman is just a true nightmare...they are like unstable chemical mixtures ready to go off at any point, resigned to the fact that their unmarried lives are nightmares and they might as well make everyones life around them hell as well..I shiver whenever I think of those bitches at my first job... oh it was the same company as you!!:)

this is your best post yet... working for any unmarried ageing woman is just a true nightmare...they are like unstable chemical mixtures ready to go off at any point, resigned to the fact that their unmarried lives are nightmares and they might as well make everyones life around them hell as well..I shiver whenever I think of those bitches at my first job... oh it was the same company as you!!:)

I had a boss who was sooo kiamsiap, thinks he knows every single thing in the world, trying to participate every department's altho he knows nuthing, screw up meetings when we susah susah got the clients to hear us, screw up events, trust the wrong bitch in the office, and no employee remains in that office more than a year. He was just too innocent, or pretend to be one i guess!

Tell me 'bout it!I was (and still) a member of MSN group "I Hate My Job". People there rant abt their jobs and bosses. And I do, too. hahaha.

I once had a female pin-tai boss. Ok.. not one but two. I have worked under 2 woman above age 40 who is single, and worst... never had a bf in their life ever! I cannot describe how pin tai they can be. I had a really, really tough time and I felt like dying!

I don't understand why companies still hire and keep all these pin tai woman who does nothing to contribute to the company but scare every young and upcoming star away instead.

Fug them all... old hag bosses. Pintai por!

(Sorry... I get really upset recalling the lousy times I had to bear at that time)

"Women bosses are petty and would generally fail to see the bigger picture."

fail to see the bigger picture, definitely agree with you there. and very petty. i definitely don't have much liking dealing with women sometimes because of their pettiness (got this word?). i'm definitely not a sexist, i just don't feel comfortable working with them, i have no problem in doing other things with them hehe.. em, maybe that's just how women behave :) it's not their fault anyway, it's in their genes. have bad and frustrated experience dealing with women - authorities, secretaries, lady bosses.. and still frustrated now haha! cos i deal with them all the time.. haih.. :)

p.s : men always think women cannot see the big picture and petty, but on the other hand women always feel that men don't take their job seriously, too relax.. lenggang lenggang goyang kaki.. :D

princess shin - a friend sent it to me, thought it was worth to share it... a good stress reliever, no? ya, going to the party but i am going to be fashionably late. you cant afford? think it's time to really get a job eh?

freelunch - thinking of adding a chatbox, but should i risk ppl spamming it? one thing though, definitely going to add a 'poll bar', just deciding on what to poll.

SuLee - hahahaha... the wife must be having the scared-staff-hitting-on-husband gene... or just pure insecure... or maybe she just thinks you're hot... who knows?

kyh - be own boss is definitely a good thing. but there are other stress factors too. well, just remember what i said when you finally venture into the working worlg.

angel - why reserve? anyway, my zewtpinion is more on general terms... pure generalisation. you should definitely share your angelpinion. going to be really late for the party!

What A Lulu - oppss... dont worry lulu... my entry was done on generalisation basis. i am sure you wont turn out as one mentioned in it.

wan - one thing for sure, we are all seeking greener pastures. i noticed, wherever i go, it will never be good enough. perhaps i should blog about it the next time.

grace - oh oh oh... when i first started work, i had a senior who is like that. brilliant as a friend and mentor but when i have to work under him... my god... i feel like killing him! there are some dream boss out there, as Lydia said... she can be one.

friendfromtaiwan - hahahaha... indeed, it was the same place, thus i am sure you will tend to agree a lot with me in the coming entries. i am glad i didnt have to work under 'them' when i was 'there', cos most of my boss was still quite ... normal, they were mostly men.

calvin's WIFE - wahhh... that guy must be a loser! hahahaha... i guess he is just desperate for recognition. work for yourself eh... wanna employ me?

purple mushroom - hahahahaha, 2 pin-tai boss???? wah, that must have been something. how you tahan??? to be fair to them, pin-tai boss may be bad to employee, but they can be one of the best asset for any company. one thing though... make sure you dont turn into one. you may be married... but still....

Lydia Teh - Hi Lydia! Welcome to my blog. Everybody, this is the famous Lydia Teh who writes for "mind your language" in TheStar, her book entitled "honk, if you're a malaysian" truly kick ass!! Yes Lydia, it's a general perception, i admit. Perhaps you should write a book on how to be a good boss :)

bongkerz - i know how you feel. i am very sure some lady readers here share the same view. and you're damn right on the lady being seen as too petty while men being seen as too relax. there can never be a balance i guess. hahaha... good luck since you have to continue to deal with all of them.

For as long as the boss perception is that you are "nothing more than a salary earner", that's the treatment.

So, employees must make themselves into an asset with competitive advantage and unique, somehow, irreplaceable. It means, we got to be doing things that is more than the current job demand, a higher level job scope, or higher productivity rate or being innovative and creative in the job assignment.

Without the stated criteria above, we will not have the competitive advantage over others and there will not be any prospect for career development in that job.

HA!HA! NICE POST. I ACTUALLY HAVE A SIMILAR ENTRIES BUT NOT THAT DETAIL. FOR ME, I PERFER LADIES BOSS.AT LEST I CAN GIVE THEM WHAT MONEY CAN'T BUY. BUT U HAVE TO BE CAREFULL DURING THEIR MONTHLY PERIOD, U HAVE TO C OR FEEL THEIR MOOD.

TTL - trust me... you will need to apply my zewtpinion hahaha... one thing, if it's your first job... dont think you will have much of a choice...

baby sa - try not to work under a female lor. surely, men are better. but like i said, if it's your first job, dont think you have much of a choice.

Kenny Ng - Hi, nice meeting you too, you're part of the organising committee right? Was a job well done.

Sin Ling - hi... welcome to As Zewt As It Gets. I am glad you enjoy my blog. Hope to see you here more often. I shall drop by your blog soon enough...

SuLee - Haha... if you find it hard to work under her, I guess women bosses are really difficult to work with right? wahhh... perasan eh? hahahaha!

Maverick SM - Yes, the challenge is always on the side of the employees to make themselves indispensable. But in working ourselves towards that status, there are just too many sacrifices that have to be made, and many a times, sacrifices that we may regret in later stage of our lives.

Having said that, a very senior person in management once told me... no one is indispensable to any company.

Huei - huh? i tot you complained about your boss before and you branded her a 'bi**h' a few times? hahaha... now you say she is ok?

Hor ny Ang Moh - Haha... damn right. At the end of the day, it's how you "manage" them.

CYEN - hello, welcome to As Zewt As It Gets. First time here I presume? Hahaha... true eh...

susanloone - hello susan! Wish I can lay a red carpet for you in my blog :)... well, i do admit that this entry is based on general perception. based on the comments... most of the people kinda agree with me... some of which being female :) I shall await your masterpiece.

can't say i agree entirely with your views. i do detect some stereo-typing. hmmm.i have been a lady boss. but i can't be assessing myself, though. much as i like to comment, i think enough has been said. however, it's a good post, and you've got many people responding.

keep blogging, zewt.

(P.S: you came into my blog and suggested some kind of bloggers' association. i definitely suppport this idea.)

Nuraina - well, i do admit there are exceptions amongst general perception. yeah, i am quite flattered by the amount of responses i am getting. keep blogging i shall. yes, about the association thingy... we should look into it.

I don't think its the boss type that you should be 'typing', but rather the industry you are actually in...

Generally, women end up in less manually-labourous jobs, such as finance, accounting, tax, lecturing, etc. Your can tell from those examples that not only do these jobs cater more to the physical strength of the weaker gender, they generally deal with numbers and details (almost to an obsessive degree). Hence, those with the character make up of the opposite sex (which most men are), may find that those fields that has them reporting to a female superior, a little too calculative for their liking, possibly because they are barking up the wrong tree, not because they are reporting to female dogs.

Here's an indication why women become bosses - it just means they are good in their job or project to top management that they are good or...you know the third alternative (no need to go any deeper than that, no pun intended).

In conclusion, I have no point this morning because my estrogen levels are dictating this response to a blog which, I think started me off trying to justify why we can be bitches but which as I type, is somewhat therapeutically easing my Monday blues.

cant help it but to burst in laughter after reading that word 'pin tai' abt the lady bosses aged 40...not married part* good one.....100% agree!! this add on a good start for a slaving mondei...mate...lol*

The first one is a buddy who cares for her staffs and is very motherly but extremely demanding. She will cuddle and hold your hand even though you can't handle the job. She ROCKS! My first job ler.

The second lady boss is unmarried. She is constantly on some matrimonial website trying to search for a husband online. She approached me to be a fuck buddy before. I declined. Anyways, she doesn't bother anyone if you comeplete the task as expected.

The third lady boss is a bit cranky. The office is like a daily catwalk, she wearing some fashionable and sexy. She is cranky because she wants you to do this and that and she wants immediate results. She has her mood swing. She is always bursting her credit cards which sometimes I would have to use mine and claim later. She sleeps around with clients in order to get contracts.

The fourth boss is a lady who is not in good terms with her husband. Extremely rich. Money is no issue. She works everyone like a slave and on weekends too. She is a lady deprived of sex and friends. She takes it out on evryone. The whole department hates her and do nasty things to her like spitting into her coffee....

The guy boss which is the current one, ROCKs!!!!!!! Nothing to worry. Get your work done, he rewards you by buying you a blowjob!

susan loone - teh tarik? i tot you're in bangkok? yeah, working for men are definitely more.... relax and stress level is also much lower.

cirnelle - where have you been? anyway, a very good way of saying things when you mention they are good in their job to top management. certainly... for top management... such ppl are always good. what's the third alternative? dont really get you.

by the way, are you telling KYY about this blog? haha.

anonymous - glad you enjoy it mate... thanks for dropping by.

dangerous variable - hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!! loooks like you had a wonderful experience with women bosses! wah, one of them asked u to be their fuck buddy? you must be a hunk huh! i guess the last boss is the one mentioned in my entry. and only spitting in her coffee? c'mon, i am sure you can be more 'creative' haha!